Let It Burn/Three
Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another? Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do hey brother - avicii ---- A MOON passed the West End by, sunrises and sunsets, long afternoons and chilly dawns. Phoenix hunted herself sore everyday, and trained Gale and Ray in her little spare time. The three of them struggled on through the dreary days, passing them by without any word from Bracken or his troop of thieves. The only cheerful event in their lives was when Elliot came to visit, bringing with him several stories, and usually--despite Phoenix's constant protests--some prey. He delighted Gale and Ray with his tales, and Phoenix had to admit that, as much as she loved her sisters, Elliot's company provided a much-needed opportunity to talk with someone her own age. When she found out that his new den--the one he'd picked after his old one had been destroyed in the fire geyser eruption--was small, dirty, and cramped, she invited him to stay with her and her sisters full-time. It was not as selfless an offer as it might seem; Elliot being there offered Gale and Ray extra protection, and therefore gave Phoenix greater peace of mind, but Elliot treated it as the kindest thing anyone had ever done for him, and was his usual annoyingly helpful self around the dugout. The truth was, though Phoenix sometimes acted like Elliot was an acquaintance and held him at a distance, he was actually the closest thing she'd ever had to a best friend. The two of them had known each other since kithood, and in a home as harsh and unforgiving as The Crater, the amount of trust they put in each other was remarkable. As life wore on, subtle signs of darkness and chaos to come began gathering on the horizon. Cats going missing. Increased patrols of Peak cats around the borders of the West End, their faces painted with the juice of violetberries, their stares intent. For Phoenix, stretched thin between hunting and managing her life, the signs were invisible. She didn't see her neighbors enough to notice the way some of them had begun wandering about with thorrymint around their muzzles, eyes wide and wary. She was deep in exhausted sleep when Asta and her Peak patrol came around, searching for the infected. Then one night, disaster finally stormed in on Phoenix. It was well past midnight, and she and her sisters were asleep, the faithful Elliot on guard duty by the entrance of the dugout. The sound of shouting woke her. By the faint moonlight, she made out the outline of Carter. "What are you doing here?" she asked, staggering to her paws. Elliot began saying, "Don't tell her, don't upset-" "Shut up, Elliot. What's going on?" Phoenix snarled. "It's your father," gasped Carter. "He and his band were trying to steal from a family of cats who live near the East End. They family of cats was Infected, Phoenix. Bracken and his friends were exposed to firefever. They Infected have been taken to the Stockade, and Bracken and his group have been rounded up by some of Asta's cats and taken to the Bastion." "What's the Bastion?" squeaked Ray. "The Peak cats have set it up as headquarters down here, between the East, West, and South ends. They take cats who have been Exposed and claim to 'evaluate' them there, though everyone knows they just send them to the Stockade anyway. Too much trouble to actually judge whether a cat has been infected, you know? Better to count them as collateral damage." Ray whimpered and buried her face in Gale's fur. "They've taken him?" Gale said angrily, her eyes glittering furiously. "They've got no right." "Of course they don't have a right," Carter said. "They're Peak cats. It's what they do: interfere where they've got no business." "I don't understand why you're here," said Phoenix suspiciously. "You abandoned my father and his friends." Impatiently, Carter said, "That doesn't mean I've forgotten everything we went through together, Phoenix. Just because I no longer want to live that kind of life doesn't mean I no longer know friendship." "We're wasting time," Elliot said. "We need to mobilize-" The look Carter gave him was incredulous. "I think you misunderstood my mention of friendship. It isn't my intention to form a rescue party. I told you where Bracken is so you could mourn." Gale, Phoenix, and Ray all opened their mouths furiously at the same time, but once again Carter interrupted. "I told you, the Bastion is a short stop. Bracken's real destination is the Stockade, and once he gets there, there's no hope. If he hasn't contracted firefever already from being Exposed, he'll get it when he's thrown into that pit of despair." Phoenix set her jaw grimly. "Well, we'll just have to find him before he gets taken there. Elliot, take care of them." She jerked her head towards her little sisters and made towards the dugout door. Seizing upon the silence that followed her words, Gale and Ray both started yelling at once, so loudly that she stopped in her tracks. "We are not ''letting you go alone, Phoenix," hissed Gale, yanking Phoenix back by her tail. Wincing at the sting of Gale's claws, Phoenix said, "You don't have a say in this matter, you two. I need to find Bracken, and I'll move quicker by myself." "Maybe," said Ray quietly. "But what are you going to do to break him out, all by yourself? It'll be you against all the Peak guards." "She's got a point," Elliot interjected quietly. Phoenix turned on him. "Are you ''serious?" "Of course," he said, his gray eyes solemn and sagacious as ever. "If we all went, we'd stand more of a chance of actually doing something." There was no time to argue, and Phoenix had the uneasy feeling that even if she struck out on her own, her sisters would follow her of their own accord, and possibly get lost or land themselves in worse trouble than she was about to march them into. "Fine," she relented. "Are you coming?" Ray asked. At first, Phoenix wasn't sure who she was talking to; then she realized Ray was staring at Carter, an expectant sort of look on her face. "You know, since you 'still know friendship' and all that." Obviously confused by Ray's challenge and looking a little frightened at being dragged into what he now evidently considered a family matter, Carter muttered, "Well, I didn't think... I thought..." "That our father was a goner. But we're going to try to get to him before then. Are you coming?" Ray repeated. Silence. Rolling her eyes, Phoenix wrapped her tail around Ray's shoulders and half-dragged her outside. Elliot followed, with Gale bringing up the rear. They'd been walking for about two minutes when they heard pawsteps racing to catch up. Carter nearly barreled into them. "I'm coming," he panted. He looked scared but determined. "My parents are dead. Bracken's all I've really got." Ray gave him a small smile. None of the others acknowledged him, but they parted ranks to make room for him in the group. An hour passed in total quiet. The sky was pitch-black above their heads, their way lit only by the smolder of distant fires and the slant of thin, watery moonlight. No one's pawsteps lagged, and Phoenix, though utterly exhausted, commanded her body to keep up with the rest of them. Peering through a haze of weariness, she thought she was imagining things at first when she glimpsed a cluster of shapes on the horizon. As they grew closer, she realized she hadn't been. There were cats in their path, Peak cats. She saw Asta, and Hunter as well -- plus a few of their friends she recognized from Xylite Pond. They were standing directly in her way. "Well, look who it is. You're from the West End, right? All of you?" Asta said as soon as they were within earshot. "Why are you out so late?" Instinctively, Phoenix and her friends banded together more tightly. "We have business." "Really?" Asta arched an eyebrow. "Business that takes you out of West End, on a dark night like this? You know that it's not safe out here, right? Not so close to the Stockade. There are crazies -- of course, we don't let them escape, but every now and then one or two run amok for a bit before we round them up..." "Crazies," said Elliot woodenly. "You mean the Infected cats?" "Well," Asta said. "They're hardly cats anymore, are they?" Her voice was cold but her eyes were the slightest bit regretful. There was a soft sound, as if Elliot had opened his mouth to say something and then choked on his own tongue. He dropped his gaze to the ground. Internally, Phoenix was debating with herself. On the one hand, everything within her screamed not to trust Asta, to conceal the reason they were wandering about the plains in the night. On the other hand, these Peak cats would know exactly where the Bastion was, and might have some additional information as to where Bracken was being kept and what condition he'd be in. It was information she needed; otherwise, she was leading her friends blindly into a fortress that was the Peak cats' stronghold, certainly defended and guarded closely. "If we have to be perfectly honest," said Phoenix, thinking as quickly as she could. "We're out here to catch him." She flicked her tail towards Carter, whose eyes widened slightly in surprise, but other than that gave no other sign that this was news to him. "You see, in all your round-ups, you took his parents, Robin and Killian." Carter froze. A spear of pain bolted through his gaze, and in their navy depths she saw the reflection of fire, of two cats screaming in pain as they died together; deaths she hadn't witnessed, but knew in her nightmares and thoughts ever since the night that fire geyser exploded. She didn't know why she had chosen this particular lie -- it wasn't because she wished to hurt Carter like this, whether he'd abandoned her father or not. It was just the first thing that had popped into her head. "Robin and Killian?" echoed Asta, as if she was trying to place the names. Phoenix had a nasty feeling that she really didn't know the names of any of the cats that had been captured. "Yes," Phoenix said. "They were taken on suspicion of being Exposed and therefore Infected. We know that they're only in for cursory examinations -- of course they'll be released, not sent to the Stockade, but Carter here sort of lost his head. He went after them, and we came to persuade him to return home." The others were looking on incredulously, but Ray jumped in wisely. Putting on an excellent act, she turned on Carter and said, "See, they're Peak cats. They're ''running the round-ups for the Bastion and the Stockade. Do you think they'll let your parents just go to the Stockade if they don't show symptoms? You're being ridiculous, going to the Bastion; of course they'll have it locked down, just so no contaminated cats come into contact with the rest of us. You can't expose yourself to those potentially sick cats, or you'll spread firefever. You're being stupid, Carter." Her spiel gave everyone the time they needed to collect their thoughts. Carter, though not as smooth an actor, cleared his throat and gave Ray a convincingly sullen growl of assent. "Fine," he snarled. Triumphantly, Phoenix flicked her tail at Asta in an almost friendly manner. "See? Finally, he sees sense." She chuckled absently. "Thought he could get past all the Peak cats..." Asta said nothing in response, but one of her friends laughed. "Oh, forget the guards. The real challenge would be getting past the Furies--" "''Shut up, Adair!" Asta snapped, whirling on the white she-cat. "We have to get on with the night watch. Come on." Audible only to Phoenix, Elliot whispered, "Got more cats to drag away?" As she watched Asta lead her patrol away, Phoenix felt a pang of disappointment. She'd hoped for more information from the Northeners, facts that would help her rescue her father. Her main hope had lay with Hunter, who seemed the most amicable of the Peak cats, but he spared her not even a backwards glance as he followed Asta, Adair, and Taiga away. "Let's go," she muttered. "What are Furies?" asked Gale as they began walking again. "Probably nothing good, if they're worse than guards," grumbled Carter. Hesitating, Phoenix said in a rough voice, "I'm sorry for bringing up--" "Forget it," he said, hastily shaking his head. "I get it." "Guys," said Ray. "I think we're almost there." She nodded ahead at a large rock formation rising sharply out of the flat ground, its surface pockmarked and riddled with holes. Phoenix strained to see how many guards were on duty, but she couldn't detect any movement from where she stood. Before she could decide how to approach the Bastion, Gale nudged her suddenly. "Someone's been following us." They turned as one and found themselves face-to-face with Hunter, who emerged from the direction they'd just come. He seemed to have ditched Asta and his friends and doubled back. Phoenix said rather rudely, "Why are you here?" The corners of his mouth quirked up. "Nice greeting," he said. "I could ask you the same thing. You have no business at the Bastion." "We do have business, it just isn't any of yours," she said tartly. "Ah, well it just so happens that I have my own errands to run. Shall we proceed together?" he said smoothly. Hesitating, Phoenix decided they couldn't afford to waste any more time. At this rate, Bracken would already be in the Stockade and beyond help before they even reached the Bastion. Giving a grunt, she brushed past Hunter and struck off at a run for the rock formation. She heard the others fall in behind her. Hunter was soon jogging at her shoulder, annoyingly not short of breath at all. He was obviously more well nourished than her, his muscles coiled under a healthy pelt, and it irritated her to no end. They reached the Bastion and found, oddly enough, that they were not intercepted. Phoenix glanced at Hunter. "Your friends aren't very good at this, are they? They don't even have anyone on guard." Having noticed this too, he frowned. "That's odd. There's usually sentries--" A loud shout interrupted him. There was the sound of a commotion, and then a cat streaked out of the main entrance of the Bastion. At first, he was unrecognizable -- practically unrecognizable as even part of their species. He was covered completely in blood and dirt from head to foot, his pelt obscurred. Then Carter said, "Magnus?" and Phoenix realized who he was: one of Bracken's friends, part of his troop of vagabonds. No sooner had she thought this than the rest of Bracken's friends, five other cats, plus Bracken himself, came bolting out. They were followed by furious looking cats who were clearly from North End, and Phoenix realized that all the Bastion guards had been inside, dealing with what was obviously a rebellion and escape attempt. Pride in her father rising within her, she yelled, "Over here!" Bracken's head shot up, and his eyes widened in astonishment as he saw all three of his daughters. Hunter, meanwhile, looked the opposite of overjoyed. "What's going on, Taiga?" he bellowed over to one of the Peak cats. Taiga, a dark brown tom with unnervingly bright green eyes who Phoenix had seen before at the Summons, yelled back, "Fools are trying to run away, obviously! We've got to keep that one--" he pointed at Bracken "--but the rest are fair game to be killed, they're good as dead anyway!" Phoenix halted, shocked at what she'd heard. Why was Bracken being kept alive? Meanwhile, Hunter was looking suspiciously over at Gale and Ray, who were yelling for Bracken. Something seemed to click behind his eyes. "He's your father?" he asked, spinning to look at Phoenix with horror on his face. "That criminal?" "Is that why you brought him here? It's not because you think he's Infected, is it? You're trying to interfere here and punish him for--" "For what? His crimes? He deserves to be punished for those! But no, that's not why he's here -- you don't know the half of it--" "Hunter! Are you insane?" yelled Taiga angrily as he leaped on Carter, who had leaped to his friends' defense. "Stop yammering and help us kill these-- yeeargh!" He broke off with a cry of pain and doubled to the floor; Carter stepped back wearing a look of grim satisfaction, blood dribbling from his jaws. Phoenix's stomach twisted; she knew where he'd learned that move, having seen Bracken execute it before. Seeing his friend injured spurred Hunter into action. He leaped at Bracken, but Phoenix cut him off. "Oh no you don't. You'll have to fight me." "Your father is not who you think he is, Phoenix," hissed Hunter savagely. "He need to be kept here -- lives are at stake here. He has information we need to save them, and until he agrees to cooperate--" "I will not cooperate with you! You North Enders, with your superiority complex and your utter disregard for lives that are not your own." Bracken sprang between Phoenix and Hunter. "Stay away from my daughter. The fight is between us." "Tell us where Gia is, and we'll let you all go safely," snarled Hunter. "Don't tell us, and we will be forced to hurt you." Pure shock coursed through Phoenix. "Did he just say--" She turned towards her father, but he was shaking his head. "You go too far. Leave my family out of this." He sprang at Hunter, and they went down in a tangle of claws. "Bracken! Bracken, let's get out of here!" yelled Mick, another one of her father's old comrades. "We've got to run for it!" Scrambling up, Bracken yelled back, "I'm coming! Phoenix, get Gale and Ray--" "No," she interrupted. Momentarily stunned, he said, "What?" "No. I need answers, and he--" she pointed at Hunter in a way that made it clear he had no choice "--is going to give them to me. I'm not dragging my sisters, Carter, and Elliot after you and your friends. We're staying here." Her voice was very hard as she said all this; she allowed it to break just the slightest bit as she added in a whisper, "Get out of here, be safe somewhere... We can find you later." Their gazes locked for a second, and she knew that in a parallel world, a world untouched by the Sky-Fire Times, parents and kids would never dream of leaving each other. Bracken would be determined to stay with them, they would refuse to be separated, and they would work it all out together. The best choice would also be the most realistic choice and she would know immediately when she chose the right thing. But it was not a perfect world. She knew that as surely as she knew immense clots of hellfire had rained from the sky and brought devastation on the entire planet. So she slapped her father's shoulder and shouted, "Go!" He jumped, and then raced after Mick, who was helping another cat drag along the badly wounded Magnus. A few of Hunter's friends, including Taiga, ran after them, hollering incoherently. "They'll give up the chase soon enough," Hunter said. He looked uncomfortable and wouldn't meet her eyes. "It's not worth going after Bracken, not now that we've got..." But he didn't finish the sentence. "Forget all of them. Bracken mentioned Gia." Phoenix sized Hunter up, her eyes very narrow. "What does my mother have to do with any of this?" end of part three